Last summer, I reported Major studios make valiant (but still lacking) efforts to combat toxic voice chat (where women are often the target) In popular competitive games, e.g. Overwatch 2, call of Dutyand apex legend. Riot Games, the studio behind the 5v5 competitive hero shooter Valuationis one of the more aggressive teams when it comes to combating hateful in-game chat, but there are countless issues in the game as well.
A recent social media post caught the attention of dozens of people Valuation Players (some eSports pros, other content creators) are speaking out against the treatment of women in gaming, and showing that it’s still an issue plaguing competitive multiplayer shooters.
this Valuation The video that started it all (again)
The conversation began on April 9, when Valuation Player and content creator named Davis “LightEdits” Bray Shared a clip from a recent Twitch stream on X (formerly Twitter) The title is “My bad guys will never try to communicate. [voice chat] Enter the ranking again. ” in the clip (which appears to be taken from Valuation On streamer Joona’s Twitch page), he reminded a player in the ranked game (Luna “Luna Fox” Ryan) that she had her ultimate, to which Joona said, “She knows.” This quickly turned into a brawl , Bray and other men said the suggestion was an example of “good communication” and asked why the women were “angry.”
“The joys of being a woman,” Jonna finally said, before muting them. “Damn loser fucks. Loser fucks,” she said, seemingly reporting on the situation.
“Anyway follow me on TWITCH <3," Bray wrote in an X/Twitter post of the video he shared. Replies included comments about Joona's "ego" or "attitude," many of which Davis liked. A screenshot of his Twitch chat message allegedly read: "Bro if that was my short guy I'd give her some sense and not be a white knight."
However, on the morning of April 10, Joona shared a video of herselftitled “This is probably why you deleted your video And looking for pieces inside me, hmm? ” (Bray’s video on demand, or VOD, the entire content of his Twitch streams uploaded to the streaming page for evergreen viewing, is still available, but only to subscribers of his channel.)
Joona’s video appears to start before the incident with Bray’s video, but during the same game. About eight seconds into the clip, Juna says something about strategy in the game, and Bray immediately reacts to her voice. “Oh my gosh, guys, e-girl, e-girl,” he said. He then asked, “Who is this viper?” more than once, referring to the character played by Joona. “Isn’t Jona a self-aware person?” he asked about his chat before complaining about her communication. “What the fuck is this communication, bro?” he asked, his game microphone clearly not transmitting a signal to her.
“Brother, what’s wrong with Jonna? There’s no way she’s fucking ShahZam’s girlfriend. She’s stuck up because she’s dating a pro gamer,” he said, referring to Jonna’s public relationship with a pro gamer. Valuation Pro-Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan.
Valuation communication and conflict
in an email my city, LunaFox explains how the game went down from her perspective. “LightEdits wanted to have a chat (it’s nice anyway) I have my ult, me and Joona both did it [the pair duos a lot together, and are friends both on and off Valorant] We know… Once Joona hears this she replies “she knows” so the team understands not to talk when I’m in a pinch, which is what I prefer in ranked games… he thinks this is Aggression, which was very evident in his response. “
According to Luna, Bray and other men in the game repeatedly misunderstood her gender in voice chat, “even though Jonna corrected them multiple times.” “After the game, we thought it was over, But then both were surprised by posts on Twitter that tried to paint Joona as the bad guy,” she told me.
After Joona and Bray’s posts, dozens of Valuation Gamers and other esports pros also weighed in on the controversy. “Valorant” pro Alan “ethos” Nguyen Calling Bray’s behavior the “definition” of involuntary celibacy And esports analysts Rod “Slasher” Breslau joked “Players who keep talking when someone is trying to catch them should be waterboarded until the end of the round.” Joona’s partner ShahZam, Replied to Bray’s original videowrote: “You guys are weird the whole game. It’s the way she talks and people think it’s the attitude because her voice isn’t a soft “uwu”. This is so lame man your team instigated The whole game. Do better.”
“Full transparency, I love creating content by editing streamers’ reactions. It was never my intention to hurt myself. I apologize to Joona for letting her be a part of this,” Bray wrote on X on April 10. Over-the-top video. ” The post has now been deleted. On the same day, he shared YouTube video titled “lightedits vs joon false accusations” It does not include any clips of him discussing Joona’s “self” or her relationship, nor does it include comments about LunaFox.
Bray’s X profile shows that he liked dozens of comments on the original video he shared, including one tagging Elon Musk and asking him for his opinion, and another reading “Every Valorant MF will ask problem and then acting like a victim.” Bray is currently an eSports student-athlete at the University of Waterloo in Canada. my city Bray was contacted for comment.
A representative from the University of Waterloo said in a statement my city Via email: “The University is committed to cultivating a campus community where all students can thrive. We are aware of this issue and are addressing it in accordance with appropriate internal policies and procedures.”
female Valuation Players are being harassed in the game
As is the case with most high-level competitive video games, this controversy is yet another example of a small and vocal group of gamers often creating openly hostile spaces for women. In the aftermath of the conflict, women shared stories and snippets of in-game harassment they encountered while playing Riot’s competitive games.
Content Creator Ning Jing Posted a clip on X Several men she hung out with harassed her – the men discussed rape, called her a “retard” and one told her to “kill yourself, you little slut”.
28 years old Valuation Content Creator Bilbo shared a clip During one game, her male teammates physically blocked her in the game and used stuns and flashes to stop her movement. “At the start of every game I always say ‘Hello, team’ or something like that, so I assume that’s how they know I’m a girl,” she told my city through email. “This video is not the only example [harassment I’ve received in Valorant]… This video is the first time I’m sharing the name of the person who did this, and I don’t want them to be harassed in any way, but I do hope it will make others more hesitant to poison their teammates. “
“In general, I do believe that women are welcome in most communities, at least in my experience,” she wrote. “I usually play one or two of these games a week. However, toxic minorities can definitely give the rest of the community a bad name.”
Nao, 24 years old Valuation Players gnashing their teeth Counter-Strike: Global Offensive lobby, sent my city a clip Valuation During one game, a male player repeatedly called her mom after she politely asked not to. “I think Valuation better [than other games in terms of toxicity]”, “But just because it’s better doesn’t mean it’s okay,” she wrote in an email.
Tess, a 24-year-old marketing expert who regularly competes in duos with her friend Morgan, told us my city She encountered harassment in the game so often that “there’s no day we’re waiting in line without being harassed in the game.” Valuation It’s an anomaly. “
“Just last week I made the mistake of queuing alone and had an all-male team make fun of the guys I was beating on… They yelled at me the whole game and then started talking to me for not talking. Yelling. They said I was scared and shut up. No victory,” she wrote in an email.
Tess’ partner Morgan expressed similar sentiments in an email my citywrote: “It’s crazy what people can say online just based on your voice. I also think it’s easy to gang up on someone, especially if you line up alone.”
All the women I interviewed had countless stories about the harassment they faced Valuation and other online competitive games. Many of them said Riot Games did a good job policing in-game chat, but nearly unanimously said the company could do better. (my city Riot Games was contacted for comment. ) Several women spoke about the importance of prominent content creators and esports athletes speaking out against in-game harassment, and how helpful it can be for even regular players to try to stamp out hate speech in games. bud.
“I truly believe that if people want to see change, we need people to speak out or speak out when someone is openly sexist or transphobic and denigrating others,” Luna said via email. “I firmly believe that if If at least one person in every game can do that, the game will feel safer for many women and marginalized genders.”